Product orientors are well-known in the art of goods conveying. They aim at modifying the initial orientation of a product so that it is correctly positioned for a given product processing station.
A device for aligning parcel goods is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,097,029 B2, issued to Halang on Aug. 29, 2006 and being titled “Parcel Orienting Device”. This device includes rollers and, for each rollers, a manipulation unit that is adapted to vary the speed and/or direction of rotation of the roller. A drawback of this device is that it includes numerous motorized parts and as such is prone to malfunctions and breakage. Also, such a complex system requires intensive maintenance and parts replacement.
United States Patent Publication No. 2012/0298481 published on Nov. 29, 2012, naming Fourney as the inventor and titled “Multiwheel Roller-Conveyor Case Turner” describes a case turner that shares drawbacks with Halang's system.